ISI has been building exquisite violins, violas, cellos, mandolins and custom guitars for more than 40 years.
Instruments from ISI feature the finest tone woods, the highest quality fittings and hardware & the unique ISI Pickup System.Although amplified acoustic instruments are ISI’s specialty,our pure acoustic instruments are unsurpassed for tone & playability.
Introducing the Redesigned ISI Pickup
In response to my customers, who loved the amplified sound of my standard pickup and who were asking for a system that had negligible effect on the instrument acoustically, I have redesigned the standard pickup to have a narrower foot width and a more solid structure .
Using high quality bridge blanks and well aged Bosnian bridge wood, the top portion is carefully mortised and firmly fixed into the base which houses the two sensors. This two-piece construction enables me to place the pickups exactly where I want in relation to the feet, giving the best response and most open tone while still holding up acoustically.
Our Instruments
Instruments from ISI feature the finest tone woods, the highest quality fittings and hardware & the unique ISI Pickup System. Although amplified acoustic instruments are ISI’s specialty, our pure acoustic instruments are unsurpassed for tone & playability.
What’s New at Ithaca Stringed Instruments
Recent projects, information and blog posts
12-Fret Parlor Guitar
This 12 fret Parlor guitar Red Spruce top, Flamed mahogany back and sides, Flamed Cedro neck feather weight with an incredible clarity and depth of tone.
6-String Violin (Fadolin)
This newest 6 string violin (famiola) built for a wonderfull musician in Santa Monica. big leaf maple back and sides. Constructed on a redrawn form based on a Cremonese golden mean. [...]
7-String Mezzo Violin
Recently completed 7 string Mezzo Violin. The second 7 string on this frame, a challange to build but it came out well I think. Here is an excerpted quote from the customer after playing it [...]
Florentine Mandocello (Luito) for John Pailillio
Recently completed 5 course Florentine Mandocello (Luito) for John Pailillio Sitka top , mahogany back and sides . Laminated Cedro neck. Ebony fittings.
Articles
ISI featured in Acoustic Guitar Magazine
An Oneida guitar we built some many years ago is reviewed in this months "Great Acoustics" feature in Acoustic Guitar Magazine. Built by Eric Aceto and Dan Hoffman in 1989 it was one of several [...]
Aceto/Violect Violin Pickup
Eric Aceto, longtime luthier and developer of pickups for acoustic instruments, is offering a new version of his Aceto/Violect violin pickup featuring an onboard, chin rest–mounted volume control and improved placement of the pickup elements. [...]
Aceto Develops Inventive Sound
Hidden in the countryside near Trumansburg is one of Tompkins County's greatest treasures. No, it's not Taughannock Falls. It's Ithaca Stringed Instruments, a musical instrument workshop with handiwork played all over the world by famous [...]
“I have been looking for years for a 5-string violin that sounds good acoustically and that sounds closest to a real violin when used with a pickup . This new 5-string made by Eric for me is exactly what I was looking for so many years, an instrument that sounds great in both contexts.”
Jean Luc Ponty
French virtuoso violinist and jazz composer